The Work That Shaped Us
A Mother’s Day Reflection
By Marlon Kerim Weinstabl
On Mother’s Day, we often speak about love, care, and family.
This year, I find myself thinking about something more specific. About the kind of work that sits quietly behind those words. The kind that does not announce itself, does not ask to be measured, and does not appear in company histories — yet shapes them all the same.
Some contributions in life are visible. They come with titles, decisions, and recognition. Others are so constant that they become part of the background. They are everywhere, but are rarely acknowledged. Often, this consistent love and care become the norm; we become blind to it and take it for granted.
This reflection is for my mother. But it is also for something wider — for the many mothers whose work has helped build not only families, but the businesses and lives around them, often without ever being formally acknowledged.
What I did not fully see before
When you grow up around a business, certain things feel normal simply because they have always been there, done that way.
Ships being built. Offices being set up. Events being organized. Problems being solved before they become visible. Someone is always making sure that things are in place, that standards are kept, that people are looked after.
You do not always stop to ask yourself: “Who is this silent hero behind the scenes?”
It is only when you take a step back from your own limited perspective, the one that is hyper-focused on yourself and the business, that you begin to see the tunnel vision that can blind you from recognising the true nature of what a caring mother does for you. When you breathe, step back, become mindful, and care about more than yourself and the business, you begin to see how lucky you are.
You start to see not only what was built, but how a silent hero has helped you build it.
The details that carry more than they seem
From the very beginning of our maritime journey: venturing, building, growing, and sustaining Atlantis Tankers and Armona Denizcilik, my mother was part of the work, not in a defined role, but in whatever was needed. A cornerstone of our success.
I remember her sourcing items for our first tankers. Things that, on paper, sound small but made an impact over decades. Carefully choosing cookware, bed linen, curtains, flooring, paintings, artificial flowers, and so much more. The everyday objects that turn a vessel from a structure into a place that people can call their home away from home.
At the time, I did not think much of it. It was just something that had to be done.
Looking back now, I understand it differently.
Those were not small details. They were part of setting a standard. Part of creating an ecosystem, culture and environment. A way of saying that even in an invisible industry far away from life ashore, the people on board matter. That the environment we create for them reflects who we are as a company.
She did not stop there. She went on board during shipyard periods to check work, to see things through, to make sure that what was done was done properly to her standards. She paid attention to things that many would overlook, not because they were critical on a checklist, but because they mattered in practice.
That kind of care is difficult to quantify. But it is easy to recognize once you begin to look for it.
The work that holds everything together
Over the years, her contributions moved across many areas.
She organized company events. Coordinated logistics that needed to run smoothly without drawing attention to themselves. Took part in shaping our office spaces, including long discussions, decisions, and adjustments with architects that would eventually define how people experience the company on shore.
She supported early branding and communication efforts. Helped with the practical side of finance and bookkeeping. Gave Excel and IT lessons. Managed the countless small requirements of running an office. Dealt with people, with tensions, with the realities that come with any working environment.
She helped build spaces from the ground up, including under conditions that required resilience and patience.
She gave psychological counselling to those who asked for her help or just needed someone who would listen to them.
But more than any single task, what stands out to me now is the consistency of her commitment.
The fact that she was there across all of it.
Not for recognition. Not for position. But because the work needed to be done, and she cared enough to do it properly.
When something becomes invisible
There is a reason why this kind of contribution is often overlooked.
It is most noticeable in the big and defining moments. However, the smaller everyday consistency is what is overlooked. And that is the real impact that allows big or defining moments to shine in the first place.
In preparation.
In follow-up.
In noticing what others miss.
In making sure things are right before anyone else has to think about them.
Over time, it becomes part of the fabric of the company. And because it is always there, it risks being taken for granted.
Once you step into a position where you are responsible for making everything work, then you begin to understand. As CEO now, I have begun to understand.
You begin to see how much of what feels “normal” was actually carried by someone who never needed to say it out loud.
What leadership changes
Spending time in this role has changed the way I look at contribution.
You realize quickly that a company is not only built on decisions and strategy. It is built on standards. On consistency. On the way people approach the work when no one is watching.
And those standards are not created in one moment. They are shaped over time, often by people who lead through action rather than instruction.
When I think about where many of our standards come from — the attention to detail, the care for environment, the insistence on doing things properly — I can trace a part of that back to her.
Not through statements, but through example.
Saying what should be said
So let me say this clearly.
My mother, Claudia Weinstabl, was not simply present around the company. She was part of how it was built and instrumental in helping it blossom into what it is today. From a small company to a Medium-Sized Corporation.
Through practical work. Through consistency. Through care. Through a willingness to step into whatever was needed, across many years, without needing to define it.
And she did all that while being a mother, carrying the responsibility of family life alongside the demands of the business.
She was also the hero at home, taking care of us children, bringing the family together every evening, and supporting my father through the joys, pressures, and burdens that came with the business. Delicious home-cooked meals brought the family together every night for dinner, often the only one or two hours of the day when we would all be together. She would listen every night to my father over dinner (and often after) for hours, with us kids too listening, learning about the business. My mother and we kids shared my father’s joy but also felt his many pains and problems. Especially after the 2008 Lehman Crisis.
That is not a secondary contribution.
It is the rock-solid anchor that keeps the family tight-knit. Inseparable.
Beyond one story
While this is personal, I do not believe it is unique.
Across many businesses, there are mothers whose work has been absorbed into the background simply because they kept going without needing recognition.
They built. They supported. They corrected. They sustained.
And when the story is told, their role is often shortened, simplified, or left out.
That is not because it was small.
It is because it was constant.
And constant work has a way of disappearing unless someone takes the time to name it.
Thank you
Mama, ich danke dir von Herzen.
For the work that did not need to be seen to matter.
For the standards you carried without compromise.
For the details you refused to overlook.
For the consistency, the patience, and the care that shaped more than I realized at the time.
And for everything that was done quietly with purpose and intent.
If there is one thing I have come to understand more clearly now, it is this:
What looks like small work and simple habits done consistently, over time, becomes the grand cumulative result.
It becomes part of what a company is, and what its humans and leaders are built of.
And part of a legacy.
That is, you, Mama.
Marlon Kerim Weinstabl
Chief Executive Officer
Atlantis Tankers Group
